Court to rule on Jacob Zuma appeal

The legal wrangle between former president Jacob Zuma and former minister Derek Hanekom is back in court on Thursday. The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg will rule on Zuma’s bid for leave to appeal a judgment. The court previously found Zuma’s tweet about Hanekom was false and defamatory.

It ordered Zuma to delete the post in which he’d claimed that Hanekom was an enemy agent. The court also ordered the former president to publicly apologise. But he has not complied with the order. Hanekom approached the court, saying the allegation damaged his reputation.

Zuma, however, insists the post was taken out of context. He now wants a full bench of judges to hear his appeal and believes they may arrive at a different conclusion.

In other news – Mzwanele Manyi – I feel like I’m here for an ambush #statecaptureinquiry

Former government communications boss Mzwanele Manyi claimed on Wednesday that the state capture inquiry was attempting to “ambush” him. Manyi, who returned to the stand at the commission under subpoena after his initial testimony in November last year, interjected before the commission’s advocate Kate Hofmeyr, who is leading his evidence, could begin.

Manyi’s objections to testifying was reminiscent of his initial testimony, when he requested that his then evidence leader, advocate Vincent Maleka, recuse himself because his questions were too “prosecutorial”. I want to raise the issue of procedural fairness, which I don’t think I am receiving,” he said. Read more

Source: eNCA